After taking Soc 119, my viewpoint on race and religion has absolutely changed for the better in my opinion. Coming in to Soc, in no way would I have considered myself a racist or closed minded when it comes to racial or religious issues, and I still know that I was not either of those things before this class started, but what this class really did was open my mind up to issues that I never would have even thought of with lectures like the Christian Crusaders and Affirmative Action ones. What Sam really succeeded in throughout this entire semester was knowing what the general population’s minds are closed to without them even knowing it, and opening them up and leaving them capable of pondering these new ideas. Sam made me more understanding of the differences in the world and the major disadvantages that various races, cultures, and religions face throughout not just our country, but the entire world. One of the main points that I took away from all of Sam’s lectures was that the solution to all of these racial and religious issues, even if there is one, is extremely far away and is a very complicated solution to come to. Another focal point that I took away from Soc 119 is the concept of the “invisible strings” that Sam always talked about. This gave me reasoning as to why people act the way they do and do the things they do. The idea that there are such strong forces from the outside environment that the people cannot control that influence almost every single decision they make is mindboggling, but just makes perfect sense. It explains so many things in life and now whenever I encounter various situations pertaining to people of any race making questionable decisions, it will now make me think; “did they really make their own bad decision there, or was there some type of force that I cannot see that is making them do what they are doing?” This is a very important question not just for this Soc 119 class, but a question that can be useful for the rest of my life. Sam introduced and then reinforced the idea that there is inequality in the world and although there is a slim chance for equality that can never begin to be achieved if we are not aware of all of the problems in the first place. Although it is only my first year here at Penn State, taking Soc 119 has easily been my best decision so far and I will surely recommend it to any of my friends. The vast amount of different, out of the box ideas that I have heard this semester have been amazing and really gave me a new perspective on many issues.

hate crimes towards either him or his family. He probably would have had some form of vandalism done to his house or car, would be relentlessly harassed when out in public, and would more than likely almost have absolutely no support from anybody. In my opinion, this is a heinous crime whether you are black, white, brown, or anything. It has changed or ruined many lives, and the focus should not be on the criminal, but on the victims. I think even with Sandusky being white, there has been too much focus on him and Joe Paterno and not enough on supporting the victims, but if he were black, it would sadly be far worse.

said and done and all of the victims eventually do come up, that is going to be the case anyway. There are statistics all over the place that show that colored people feel the wrath of the legal system way more frequently than white people, especially when it is a crime of a black person done to a white person. If a black person kills a black person, then it is not too much of a difference in terms of punishment compared to a white person killing a white person, although the black person still is more susceptible to serving more time, but if a black person kills a white person, they do not even have to bother to show up to the trial because the way that the biased and even racist legal system works, they are going to be punished to the fullest extent. Also if Sandusky were to be Latino or black, I would expect that there would have been a few

immediately by the law. If you think that things were out of control and big news nationally with Sandusky being white, then you could not even imagine what it would be like if he were a person of color. That does not even begin to talk about if he was black or Latino within the legal system. If Sandusky was of color, then Sandusky’s bail probably would have been either significantly higher, if he even received bail at all. And when Sandusky does get convicted, I believe that if he were of color, being that he is an older person, I guarantee it that they would have made sure that Sandusky died in prison, but I also think that when all is

If Sandusky were black or Latino, I think that this entire scandal would be completely different. Everything that has happened would have been done to a much greater extent, had Sandusky been black or Latino. The interviews would have been much more negative and biased, the riots would have been a lot more rowdy and instead of rioting more for Joe Paterno, the riots would have been aimed more towards Sandusky, and there would have been many people at the national level calling for Sandusky to be brought down

To start off, I must say that the riots that occurred for two consecutive nights at Penn State were disgusting. I went out just to watch the events with a couple of friends and I was appalled when the news van was tipped over. With that being said, I believe that these riots were going to happen regardless of whether social media was involved or not. Without checking my Twitter or Facebook, as soon as I heard the news of Joe Paterno being fired, I immediately knew that people were going to take to the streets to cause destruction. I also feel like that most people that went out for those riots did not even care about the firing of Joe Paterno, but rather people were definitely just looking to cause some trouble and destruction. The news of Joe Paterno being fired was just one of those things that as soon as you heard it, regardless of if you were on a social media website or not, you just immediately knew that all hell was going to break loose and that everyone’s first reaction was to go to the streets. With that being said, however, I also believe that social media did in fact help pour some extra fuel into the riot fire. If people did in fact have any doubt that a riot was occurring outside, all they had to do was simply check their Twitter or Facebook and their hunch would have been confirmed in a matter of seconds. People’s statuses and tweets were either telling people to come out and join them as they attempt to destroy the town, or were condemning the attacks as unnecessary and stupid. Where social media also chipped in to the chaos was by allowing people to mobile upload pictures and videos of the riots to their profiles in a matter of seconds. If people were just sitting back and were on the fence about whether they were going to go out and riot or stay in their room, then seeing these pictures of the chaos may have persuaded people to go out if they are in to that kind of thing. In my opinion, social media’s main damage was caused by alerting the media of the riots and giving the media valuable pictures and videos to use against Penn State. With all of these smartphones and camera phones around, I could not even begin to imagine how many pictures and videos of the riots were taken, prime material for the media to use to tarnish the reputation of Penn State and make their story seem more appealing. Without social media, the nation would not have seen as many vulgar pictures and videos of the sickening acts that occurred, and maybe a few people would have stayed indoors instead of going out to riot.

Hiring illegal immigrants is a touchy subject. Illegal immigrants do have many benefits for not only individual businesses, but for our country as a whole as well. If I were a business owner and was seeking new workers, I would probably shy away from illegal immigrants, not that I have anything against them but I just do not think that it is worth the risk. Hiring illegal immigrants is dangerous because if your business gets busted for having them, it faces steep fines and will more than likely constantly be under the microscope of the government or law officials. I feel like that although you are saving a considerable amount of money by giving them way too low of wages, depending on how many illegal immigrants you have in your establishment, the fines and sanctions could far outweigh the benefit. I am not sure as to whether a business owner could find legal, American citizens that would be willing to work for as cheap at some of the jobs that illegal immigrants do, but I assume that for only a few cents or dollars more an hour, there would definitely be some takers. It is my honest opinions that Americans do not mind doing the labor the illegal immigrants do, it is just that most Americans are not as desperate or needy for work compared to illegal immigrants that just freshly crossed the border, so the legal citizens prefer to get a higher wage. Also, although I do acknowledge that illegal immigrants do help this country go around by taking the jobs that Americans will not take at such a low pay rate, I do not like how they are avoiding taxes, which is my second biggest concern with hiring illegal immigrants, first of course being the risk of being caught. Now, it would be closed minded to think that illegal immigrants do not offer benefits, on top of taking hard labor jobs. Another benefit is that they are extremely hard workers. I have personally worked side by side with an illegal immigrant and he outworked me five times over. They do a great job and focus on the task at hand. This is not to mention the fact that they do all of that great labor for next to nothing. Honestly, although this sounds weird and contradictory, if it was legal to hire illegal immigrants, I would absolutely do it in a heartbeat, because it definitely makes business sense and you get the most “bang for your buck.” To still get the benefits of the strong work ethic that these illegal immigrants supply, I would recommend that the government makes it a hell of a lot easier to become a legal citizen because quite frankly, the current system is a disgrace.

Just thinking about the fact that in the near future white people are going to be the minority is mind-boggling. It is a very odd thing to think of and the thought that white people would be the minority has never ever even come close to crossing my mind, and that is not because I refuse to believe it or whatever, but rather simply because I never was aware of how low the birth rates are for white people compared to other races. Now that I am aware of what is currently happening, I do not really know how I actually feel. I do not necessarily feel scared or afraid, but at the same time I also do. At a minimum, I feel nervous. If it is not already blatantly obvious to everybody that white people do receive preferential treatment and special privileges, Sam definitely made sure that everyone was aware of this, and to be honest, I kind of like and appreciate the special privileges, although I do absolutely acknowledge the fact that it is not morally, socially, or in any way, shape, or form, correct. I think that at a worst-case scenario from the white person’s perspective, if the white people do actually end up becoming the minority, we will end up being on the wrong side of these special privileges. However, I think if this 180-degree shift of special privileges does occur, it will be in the very distant long run. It is not like that as soon as the number of minorities outnumbers the number of white people, they automatically have special privileges. Rather, it will be a slow, gradual shift that will take quite some time to take affect, if it ever does. That is of course the worst-case scenario for the white person, and I actually believe that the change will be a lot less drastic. If and when the minorities to surpass the white people and become the majority in this country, I honestly believe that nothing will really change. The special privileges, etc, are what they are currently not so much because of the skin color anymore, but rather because it is woven into our cultural and social fabric, and it will be that way for a long time. When the minorities become the majority, the people who conduct the interviews and choose the job applicants will still be impartial and prefer white people, and the minorities becoming the majority could even become a disadvantage for current minorities in the long run, as another worst-case scenario. If the white people become the minority then I am sure that there will be some ridiculous affirmative action for white people that will still give them an upper hand. Like I said, I do not support people have special privileges for anything because it just is not fair, but it is human nature to enjoy that privilege while you have it.

When thinking about the question of whether a person who hangs out with or befriends a group of people whose race is primarily not their own, it is definitely apparent that there is not a clear answer and whatever answer you do give definitely can vary from individual case to individual case. For instance, if a black person goes to a predominately white school with only a few other black people, then I think that it is obvious that if they hang out with a bunch of white kids that they are not a poser, they are just simply working with whatever resources they have at their disposal. What is the kid supposed to do, sit in class and at lunch by himself and not talk to anyone all day? Another example of when somebody who hangs out with group of people whose race is not the same as their own can be if a white person goes to a predominately white person school that only has a few black kids, but that white person hangs out with those few black kids because maybe they are on the same sports team together, take part in some of the same hobbies, like the same things, or whatever. The white kid is not trying to make a point or look cool or pose off of these black people just because he is hanging out with them when there are more white people to hang out with, it is just the way that his friendship circle was kind of determined by his interests or hobbies. However on the other end of things, if the kid kind of forces the relationship with the group of people of different races and is not a part of the group he wants to be but rather is trying to make a point that he or she can fit in with another race, then that person is definitely a poser. People who do this tend to change the way they talk, the way they dress, the people they hang out with, but do this only to impress other people, just because they want to look “cool.” This is the prime example of a poser. These people are fake and are just putting on a show. I feel like eventually the people will realize that they are hanging out with people not for themselves but for other people and this person will probably stop hanging out with this group eventually and find a group that actually has common interests with them, etc. In the end, things will work out, but for the time being the people are just putting on a front for some kind of personal gain or something, I cannot really explain what that gain is because I am not one of those people, but the gain is there.

There really is no definite answer as to why we use racial labels because they most certainly are not needed. Racial labels, stereotypes, etc, are all things that have kind of been engrained into each person’s culture and it would take generations, if ever, for a person to drop the “habit” of using racial labels. However, although I acknowledge there isn’t a definite answer, I still think I might have an idea as to what one of the answers might be. My hypothesis as to why we continue to unnecessarily use racial labels is because, like I said before, it is a “habit” of our individual cultures. I will be the first to admit that I do occasionally use racial labels, but I honestly do not use them in a derogatory or offensive way, like some people may do. I mainly use racial labels when I am telling a story and am just trying to be descriptive or put a clearer image of the scenario into the listener’s head. For instance, I may have been in a crowded mall and took note of the fact that there were significantly more black people in the mall than any other race, and during a story I would say something along the lines of “In the mall today, there were a lot of black people.” I am not saying this in a negative or demeaning manor, just simply making a statement. Now if I were to say something that crosses racist lines that should never be crossed, then that is when things get out of hand. But, when it comes down to it, racial labels are just completely unnecessary. The story would probably have around the same impact on my listener where I said that there were a lot of black people or just simply a lot of people. But, for some reason, I just throw that descriptive word in there, and in my estimation, it is because it is a “habit.” Now whether this habit can eventually be kicked is another discussion, but I believe that if it we were to get rid of these racial labels as a society, it would take many years. We are definitely taking steps in the right direction by being able to openly discuss sensitive topics such as race in classes today, but like I said, it is something that is going to take time. Although it will take time, you can already tell that things have gotten better from 30 years ago until now. Racism and racial labels still exist today, but are no where close to the level that they used to be, and that goes to show that widespread changes are absolutely possible.